CAPITOL HILL: One of the staunchest supporters of Boeing’s F-18, Rep. Todd Akin, will introduce tomorrow an amendment putting a fence around half of Lockheed Martin’s F-35’s procurement spending.

Akin, who pushed hard last year to win Boeing multiyear procurement authority for the F-18, slammed the F-35 program, saying it must tell Congress when it expects to meet Initial Operating Capability, the point at which pilots get a plane they can expect to take to war.

“The program has changed its IOC dates four times already, but if DOD wants Congress to fund the program, they should give us an IOC,” the chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee wrote today in a Dear Colleague letter to fellow representatives. Akin would stop half the procurement money flowing to the Joint Strike Fighter until the Defense Secretary sets an IOC date for each of the plane’s three variants and tells Congress the date.

In his letter, Akin said his amendment “will not harm the development of the program, but will only slow the actual buying of airframes if the DOD does not establish an IOC date.”

We understand Lockheed Martin lobbyists are already swarming Capitol Hill to kibosh Akin’s amendment.

Meanwhile, Vice Adm. David Venlet told the Senate Armed Services tactical air and land forces subcommittee that if the program continues as it is now there should not be any significant unexpected cost or schedule increases.

Watch for story updates over next hour.